Commissioned Colour-work

Some months ago - perhaps nearer to a year in fact - a work friend of mine from my previous job asked if I would help her on a knitting mission. Her great-grandmother and grandmother had knitted lovely christmas stockings for all members of her family, and they have always enjoyed the tradition of putting up the stockings at Christmas time and remembering the two granmotherly knitters who have now passed away. With two new people marrying into the family Mary Jo was keen for the two lads to also have a stocking each to join in the tradition.

Mary Jo is herself a knitter, but rather a novice, so when she asked me if I could be commissioned to knit the two stockings for her in the style of the originals I refused but told her I would help her to achieve the goal herself. MJ had just taken on a new and more stressful role in the company however, and when we discussed it, she was certain she would not be able to accomplish the task before christmas - so I agreed to knit them up for her.

This was my first stranded colour work project, and my first commissioned work - I loved the colourwork and will definitely be repeating that experience, the commissioned work however... not so much. Happily they're both completed now and have been hand delivered to MJ who was very appreciative.

MJ had loaned me one of the original stockings so I could style the new ones around a similar design. I simply followed my standard sock recipe but with DK (8ply) weight wool, used graph paper to sketch out the stranded design I wanted and voila! It was super fun :)

The original stockings had sequins and beads sewn on afterwards, and a little tassle at the top with a bell - I left these adornments off since that would give MJ a way to contribute to the project and tie her creative love and touch into the items.

So now they are done and delivered I feel very satisfied to have had a fair crack at colourwork, finished the items on time and had them well received... and I'm left with a bit of a festive feeling I must admit! :)